quinta-feira, 25 de fevereiro de 2016

This is the fourth round of the Traveling books (the third I was traveling and could not read o.o) and the book I received was "The Howl's moving castle ".
I admit that, at the beginning, I was feeling an uproar endless. The narration was slow and nothing seemed to be heading.
The story was focused on a popular legend that talked about the fate of each person according to the order they were born. Crazy!
Than started to get funny because I felt like hitting Sophie (protagonist). Old and fearful face Bitch! Talks to inanimate things and it seems a little crazy. She really need to talk to living people (poor thing!)
Anyway, the story unfolds in unexpected ways. Every now and then surprises me because the facts are not only unexpected but taken "out of nothing".Despite the praise, I have to say that sometimes looks like a mix of a lot of luck because it seems that the author only add magic to various strange characters through a plot without rhyme or reason and, only god know how, works.
Once again the end of the history came from nowhere and in the last episode everything comes to a solution and every caracther of the book appears in the same place. All ends well and in the end it was coldly calculated : p Too much perfect, hein?
Despite these issues,I enjoyed the book and recommend it for those who like magic!
That's all folks!See ya!

quarta-feira, 10 de fevereiro de 2016

This post is a second part from the narrative of my experience in Prague. If you want to read the first post, please click here.

Day 04 : Kutna Hora
That day I woke up 8am and had breakfast at the Grand Café Oriento because I knew the tour to Kutna Hora would leave only 11am . The choice of this coffee was the bunch of recommendations on the internet. The food was delicious , the price was fair and the location was nice . I thought it was worth it because I love taking good breakfasts.

From there, I directed to the tour company to buy my package to Kutna Hora with Discover Prague Tour company, which cost 700 czk and the train tickets and entrances were included. As there was still time I know the Powder Tower which is nearby.

The entrance cost 90 czk .

It is a reference in the city for one day was one of the highest monuments but even today you can see the city from above very well - I love these scenic spots , you might have noticed .

The Tour : we are in the place marked by the company and we walked together to the central train station in Prague. The guide bought our tickets and we were in a really cool train separated by boxes . As I was there I met a family of Americans and a couple of Scandinavians - they were sin ame tour as me.
1h after we got the first tourist attraction : the Chapel Sedlec . which is the largest in the world crypt .
I admit that after the Catacombs had expected that I would no longer be any " ohh " to see human bones arranged artistically , but the number and size of the " buildings " actually left me impressed . Huge chandeliers bones and other decorations .

The guide said that this chapel sinking and they will probably have to remove the ossuary there and spoke at the cultural loss that this entails for the storage and disposal of the bones will never be reproduced elsewhere as there was and such. Really sad .
Next, we expect a van come for the group to continue the tour . It was cold in a surreal level . Gloved my hands were burning , burning with cold. Already in Prague I was very cold - which is why I bought this hat ugly but that warmed the ears s2 And I think that without it would not have to enjoy the day.We arrived at the Cathedral of Santa Barbara and enjoy it out. Beautiful construction. Really impressive .

Only when we entered the cathedral was colder inside than outside xD Basically , I was dead the whole world hunger and inside the cathedral , beautiful as it is, has nothing very impressive. Ae quickly staff was cringing in the pews and trying not to allow any gangrenasse finger because it was way too cold ( boy , to one hopérbole girl today ^^ '')
Coming out of Santa Barbara had lunch in a very nice medieval restaurant with a mass medium expensive food and awkwardly . The mulled wine was crap but I forced myself to take because tava VERY cold outside and the wine would help.

After lunch we found the rest of the group to resolve lunch elsewhere and personal tava almost frozen . Very tense . At that moment I became friends with the Greeks and a Norwegian staff very nice people . At that time here I was getting dark and still went to the Italian court .

Fountain at Italian Court

Here I felt a little bit uneasy with the tour. We entered the Italian court, the guide told some things about it and then we left. It was not what i was expecting...

Particularly, in terms of cost-benefit, I think it would offset MUCH do the walk alone because I think it would have spent less money and would have known much of the city because I would not have left the 11h of Prague.

However, because winter was more than we needed to be with someone who knew where was the train station to go back because it's too sinister place. I never imagined that there was a train station and it was cold and dark and the natives speak Czech - I think I've convinced you to do the tour if they are in the winter, right?

We arrived in Prague at about 19h and ended up going with the young part of the medieval tavern pruma group in Prague (can not remember the name or endereço..mal).

Supeeeerrr it was nice, we drank beer forever and not spend a fortune (all celebrate). I went back through stumbling to the hostel to find a delicious hot chocolate in the square of the Christmas market are venceslau s2 everything worked uhauhauhauhauhau and sleep forever because he was dead

05 - Stare Mesto , Josehov , Lesser Town and Vysehrad
Yes yes , many things for one day xD
But I had failed to meet the stare of schedule mesto and josehov then had to adapt that day to try to see everything I wanted .
In Stare Mesto that was missing I was up in astronomical clock and make the tour of the underground

I bought the package tour in English for 9am but eventually they stuck with this tour and I had to do the tour with a group of children in Czech ¬ ¬ not at all happy .

Up to the towerrr

Old town square

Far behind Prague Castle

One inside the tower

Then I went back to Josehov to know the Jewish cemetery and chose two synagogues to know : Maiselova and Pinkas , beyond the Ceremonial Hall . To be honest as interesting as it is I think that apart from the cemetery , I could have spent my time doing other things than knowing these synagogues ; Will the interest of each.

Back bordering the river Vtalva walk to get to Karlov Most bridge to visit the museum Bridge .

Until then I had crossed that bridge the night back to the hostel on the Petrin Hill . After visiting the museum (which is no big deal and it cost 170 czk - ai ) I went through during the day the bridge and it really is a very cool experience .

Full of people but no bother for it. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride to the other side , pounding shots of the city , because it is a pretty fabulous place.

On the other side I was walking straight until you reach the Church of St. Nicollas . I decided to go in it because the staff spoke internet which is very beautiful. Actually she is very beautiful and had a peace that I aina had no meaning or in the synagogues or in other churches he had visited . I enjoyed the visit and 50 input czk is reasonable.

In front of the church took a tram towards Vysehrad .
It was kind of exciting here because I was kind of unsure of where to get off and did not know whit this part of town. Rolled medinho that because I went through some places more sinister but after asking a few times on the street got a wall type fortress that isolates the Vysehrad park the rest of the city.

Has no photos here because my battery died right after I get there. The rain also began at that time. Therefore, the following images were taken from the internet to give an idea of the place :)

But I was prepared and was enough to hold my umbrella for my ride is not over. I took a big walk in the park ( which is gorgeous ) and met the church I liked the trip : the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul . It is beautiful and I really felt at peace there. I lit a candle and prayed my knack . I felt very well there.

The church entrance there is an interactive dashboard that tells the story of several tourist spots of the park and outside the park. As it was raining heavily at that time I took this panel and won some very interesting information.
After a while the rain improved and continued my exploration. When I arrived at the lookout I spent more sinister cold of life. It was too windy so the umbrella was not being 100 % effective but the view from there is one of those " unforgettable life ." My heart stopped and I thought : what a beautiful place !!!

Stay over there while stand it and I resumed the schedule .
The idea was to go bordering the Vtalva in back and get to know some tourist spots like dancing Building and the National Theatre of Prague. I saw all this but neither was so cool after Vysehrad .
Eventually I returned to the square are venceslau and my goal was to buy a more powerful jacket because everyone I met and was coming from Berlin told me a unique cold there so I thought, if I'm already dying here imagines there.
After a thorough and moral support Search for photos Mom I bought my divo coat with hood of furry by approx . 70 euros. Expensive when converts to BRL but I think worth every penny because in Brazil I would never find as good jacket for that price.

Spoiler alert for the next posts xD

Finally I made my last meal in Prague by smack dab in St. Wenceslas Square in a starbucks. During the day I fed snacks of baratissimos I bought in a supermarket .
#Tip: for the poor backpackers is trying to buy snacks in supermarkets because it is very expensive and time consuming be eating in the middle of the rides .
And that's it . The next morning I took the very early train to Dresden to continue this backpack .
To Dresden folks!

I arrived in the city on 05/12 at 22h and walked fearlessly from the Main Station of Prague - Hlavní Nádraží - to my hostel which is located at St. Wenceslas Square, a famous place for focus events that led to fall of Communism in Prague and the Czech Republic.

I ended up in despair, stopping just when i arrive and exchanged200 euros for my stay and I regretted very much because when you exchange you have to pay some fees and end up losing a lot of money and in Prague euro is accepted in most of plances and you dont lose money.

So i really RECOMMEND that you exchange little money only for places that doesnt accept euro.

Hostel: I have stayed at the hostel Ananas. It has a great location, the beds and everything is all brand new and the locker is really large s2

However, the part of the interaction with other guests leave much to be desired and they do not serve breakfast and such. My complains are superficial, I know, but it shows that its a good hostel.

I payed 50 euros or so for 5 nights. Its about 10 euros per day to stay in a good hostel! Really worth it! So super recommend !!

This hostel is in the old city and was chosen precisely so because it is close to several attractions, restaurants and the train station of Prague . For those going by plane search better about arriving at the airport . Anything , take subway or tram in that area there too .

But let's talk of the town and tours I did.

Day 1:
As I arrived at night I did nothing but eating and washing my clothes.
About washing : the hostel system was for time spent washing . I was SUPER nervous to wast a fortune and ended up getting only one hour between washing and drying clothes and left still somewhat damp. I made a place to hang the clothes around my bed and the room heater did the rest of the service. Next day everything was dry s2

Day 2 : Castle Karlstjn

The way to the train station

The next day I woke up early and went to Prague train station to catch a train to the city of Karlstj which is about 50 minutes away. The place attracted me by the comments of the internet over the city and the castle - remember I am from disney puppy love and a castle and this is medieval and everything else then separated half a day to do this tour .

Well, the passage of the train / ticket cost 103 Czech crowns ( CZK ) and there is a good caminhadinha Karlstjn the station to the castle ( 30 min at least) but it is a walking part because the place is beautiful TOO ! For me , even if it did not exist the castle , the tour already worth the natural beauty of the place . Really pretty !

But lets focus in the castle.

In the winter only the Tour 1 - which is the lowest - is available. It last about 1 hour and the guide spoke English very well. We see some parts of the castle and the jewelry. It cost 180 czk in reduced price.

It's amazing this castle that was found in the 10th century and no one knows who built it (actually found it very curious in Prague , many beautiful old things that they have found and do not know who did).

In the castle output it was already lunchtime and had lunch at a restaurant at the very end of the descent called U Adama . Besides being very well attended , the food was delicious and complete meal with drink cost 150 CKZ (or 6 euros - the restaurant offers in the bill ) - it was very worthwhile .

I returned to Prague early and went to continue the plans for the day : Josehov - the Jewish quarter . I took the subway ( 'cause I thought it was far away ... nothing is far in the old side of Prague) and ended up taking the wrong side of the road - luckily for me - ' cause I had the lindaaa view of the city and unexpected . From there I could see the pros next days attractions - Prague Castle / karlov bridge and others.

It turned out that was kind slow and it took me a long time snapping pictures and curled up to find the ticket office of the synagogues of the Jews.

At the box office , honestly , u do not have much choice . I wanted to see the museum of the Jews and for that I was forced to buy the combo with all the synagogues (almost) .. Patience . At least I had the reduced ticket for students - 200 czk (all celebrate ) and the other sort is the duration of one week this ticket so you can see everything - which was VERY useful for me because on that day I ONLY got to see the Museum Jew because in winter gives 16:30 and most things close .

Jewish cemetery

the cerimonial hall

16:30 when I left (half expelled ) outside of the museum was practically dark and really cold. But the day was not over for me .. I went to Old Town Square (Stare Mesto) because there is some tourist attractions such as the astronomical clock , and the Christmas market.

Christmas Market at Old town Square

The crowd at Old Town Square

Christmas market

Astronomical clock

On the Christmas market in Prague : beautiful but not worth the price of food . You have to pay attention because the price they advertise is NOT the price you will pay. The indicated price is per 100 grams of food and the seller NEVER put the amount you ask for, always more - something that made me very very upset that day . I ended up dying in 200 czk for a pork pieces. Anger was so much I lost my hunger and I got this " dinner " even .From there, I went to the Museum of Communism. I felt like a historic ignorant because when I saw the museum I thought it was a pro-communism museum and That expectation was changed less than 2 minutes inside the museum: there is a sign beside Marx stathe that says that Marx's ideas led to the deaths of more than 100,000 Czechs (or something). My reaction: oh my, then it is a museum AGAINST communism? xD

# That Moment you think: it would be good to research a little more attractions before, is not it?
But I'm only joking because I loved the museum. It was very interesting and i felt emotion in the end. I added a lot as a human being and actually felt a historically ignorant because we do not know HALF of what happened there only with school classes. The price is 150 czk 20h night closed the museum and I crawled - dead - to the hostel. Eventually I met a really girls that night and we were over there talking until dawn and one of them arranged to go with me to explore the city on my 3rd day in Prague.
Day 3: The Prague Castle

Prague castle behind

The planning for this day was kind of hectic but as my companion Kat woke at 9am the schedule had to be flattened . Very fair because I ended up sleeping until 9am and that saved the day \ o /
We wake up and the first challenge was to find the right tram to go to the Prague Castle. We opted to purchase a day ticket - to stay without stress - which cost 100 czk approx . It was quickly there to Prague Castle.
Kat suggested to get off a point then to avoid the muvuca and explore the surroundings. Better idea of life. Because in the direction that we took to get back to the castle we had a beautiful panorama TOO city . Seriously, every glance and I was touched by the city . Pure love!

the entrance to Castle of Prague

What about the castle : in fact the Prague Castle is a complex of several buildings and historic churches . We walked through the main entrance and were being taken by the people tide until we saw a place that sold tickets to the attractions - there were a few options of tours but we chose the lower circuit B ( valid for 2 days ! ) And cost at reduced rate 125 czk .

We started the tour of the Golden Lane - the tourist attraction coolest ever - that shows where people lived and how they lived in medieval times . Has a very interesting collection of arms and armor and have access to dungeons where prisoners tortured .

A journey through time ! I looked like a child wanting to see everything and explore everything. Poor Kat xD but I think she was having fun too.

When we left the Golden Lane , we were in St. George (not very impressed ) , and then in the St. Vitus Cathedral - which is the one that has the turrets you called Prague Castle xD This cathedral is really pharaonic . It is huge and quite different from other churches I had ever known . I found beautiful and everything but tourists here are so hectic that they forget that it is a church and deal with revelry local x.x noise and people for every side . It turns out we did not have much bag to stay long here.

Down picture bom St. George church:

In front and inside St. Vito.

When we saw the time was already a bit tight to see what was missing script ( the former royal palace) but neither of us were interested in killing any of the other attractions of the day in order to see this palace then went on.

Close there exists the Strahov Monastery and we decided to have lunch over there because it was halfway to our next attraction . There they sell beer brewed by the monks and for me only that was enough to interest me .

It came out a little more expensive than meals that I got used to do (350 czk ) but the food was very tasty and the beer was very good.Even combined with the food .
From here, we ran to the Petrin Hill . We took a track up in the monastery and entered the park. It was almost 16h and we had to pick up the pace if we wanted to be up there in the tower at the time of sunset.

After a moment of uncertainty ( where we 're ???) we saw the tip of the tower and were following . The ride itself to the tower is veery nice and everything worked out . We bought the ticket for the Petrin Tower and pro Mirror Maze combined with the elevator - because we are lazy .

We managed to have that BEAUTIFUL view of the city in sunny , with twilight and night.

The mirror maze was worth to me , who had never been , and Kat that got me joking that I was behaving like a child in the maze ^^

And for you who think that adventure is over .. not . When we left the maze was night and we were in a park in Prague with no one around and when we asked information peolple told us the most generic possible directios. Then, I turned on my GPS and I told Kat that we could go following the GPS . She said ok . I grabbed my flashlight in my backpack (thanks Dan ! ) And we were in adventuring through the woods.

2 hours later we arrive - unintentionally - at the monument to the victims of communism (which was on the schedule for us to go)

And from there we went pro Museum of Torture - because to me life is crazy! Hahahahahahahahah To arrive at the Museum of torturaa we were already living in adventure style, so we went on foot because i wanted to see the bridge karlov night. s2 So we cross it.

Just leaving the bridge, at right is the Museum of Torture . It costs 6 euros ( could pay crowns but rolled some thing that forced me to pay in euros)

Enjoyed the Museum of Torture . I found very interesting ( and painful ) but it was much as knowledge and that notion of " yes, human beings are able to develop much bitch ."
But our " day " did not end there . We walked from the Torture Museum to Old town square and decided to have dinner in a fancy restaurant over there in front of the atronomical clock. There were , of course , fear of bill but we were tired and did not care any more. Simple like that.

the best iced tea ever!

We love the restaurant. Best meal in Prague! We eat pasta and I took a tea made for them. Tava warm because they had heaters in dagente back and a cobertozinhos . I could see from where we were the "show" when the clock gave the full hour.

And the best: 300 czk for each. (Arrive gives hatred when I remember I paid 200 to eat standing a pork pieces ! )
But. then, ended the day and the rest of us went back to the hostel to sleep forever .
To read more, go to Part 2 of Prague by clicking here.